By — Ellen Knickmeyer, Associated Press Ellen Knickmeyer, Associated Press Leave a comment 0comments Share Copy URL https://www.pbs.org/newshour/nation/epa-prosecutions-of-polluters-approach-quarter-century-lows Email Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Pinterest Tumblr Share on Facebook Share on Twitter EPA prosecutions of polluters approach quarter-century lows Nation Nov 21, 2019 2:04 PM EDT WASHINGTON — Justice Department figures show criminal prosecution and convictions of polluters have fallen to quarter-century lows under the Trump administration’s Environmental Protection Agency. The figures Thursday from a Syracuse University records-tracking program show the Justice Department filed 75 prosecutions, and secured 60 convictions, in EPA cases in the fiscal year ended this September. They are the lowest numbers since mid-1990. EPA spokeswoman Melissa Sullivan points to increases in other categories, including a $17 million rise in criminal fines for the year from 2018, to $45 million. But Tim Whitehouse of the Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility watchdog group says that by any metric, the odds of corporate polluters facing criminal convictions “have reached a modern low.” Whitehouse’s group and others point to a decline in the number of EPA investigative agents. By — Ellen Knickmeyer, Associated Press Ellen Knickmeyer, Associated Press
WASHINGTON — Justice Department figures show criminal prosecution and convictions of polluters have fallen to quarter-century lows under the Trump administration’s Environmental Protection Agency. The figures Thursday from a Syracuse University records-tracking program show the Justice Department filed 75 prosecutions, and secured 60 convictions, in EPA cases in the fiscal year ended this September. They are the lowest numbers since mid-1990. EPA spokeswoman Melissa Sullivan points to increases in other categories, including a $17 million rise in criminal fines for the year from 2018, to $45 million. But Tim Whitehouse of the Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility watchdog group says that by any metric, the odds of corporate polluters facing criminal convictions “have reached a modern low.” Whitehouse’s group and others point to a decline in the number of EPA investigative agents.